New horizons Mandie: her college days book 5
by ILoveMandieBooks
Summary: Jacob or Joe?
1. Chapter 1 Sighs

Chapter 1

Sierra, Hilary and Lizy excitedly packed. They were a day away from visiting Mandie's Uncle's mansion for the week of Christmas.

"Aren't you excited Mandie?" Sierra asked excitedly, "I'm so excited to visit your house and see the secret tunnel."

Mandie sighed, "I wouldn't call what I am excited."

Hilary went over to the bed and sat down by Mandie. "What wrong Mandie?" she asked.

"I do want to go home and see my Uncle John and my mother and my baby siblings, but I really don't want to go home and take care of all this drama."

Lizy and Sierra sat down by her also.

"Well then don't take care of the drama this week," Hilary said, "Tell them you haven't made a decision yet and you're not going to at the moment."

Mandie thought about that, "But then my next holiday will be ruined. It will be better if I just take care of it now and be happy with it. But I have no idea how to make this big decision," Mandie said.

"It's not really a big decision," Lizy said.

Mandie looked at her, "What do you call figuring out who I want to spend the rest of my life with?"

"You're not making the decision of who you want to spend the rest of your life with," Lizy replied, "It's not like you are going to make the decision and then get engaged."

"You are right. But either way it is still a huge decision," Mandie said.

"I agree," Sierra said, "So, if you are taking care of the drama, does that mean that you have made a decision between Jacob and Joe?"

Mandie noticed that the girls were holding their breaths waiting for Mandie's reply. She thought about it, "No, I have not made the decision yet," Mandie said. "I'm so torn. I have good reasons to be with both of them. Joe, there was a time I was in love with him. But, like I said there was a time, which means it was in the past, and then Jacob, I'm starting to fall in love with Jacob also," she said. "And then again, Joe knows how he feels about me and tells me all the time, but Jacob is more than that, he goes out of his way to be romantic, he takes me places and he gave me a rose. This is all so confusing!"

The girls were listening attentively and sighed as she stopped talking.

"They both sound too good to be true," Hilary said, she sighed smiling.

"Joe sounds better to me," Sierra said, "But considering the other man is my brother, my opinion doesn't count as much."

They all laughed.

They next afternoon they caught a train to Franklin.

While the other three girls were napping, Mandie was thinking.

Jacob had left a week earlier because his mother came down with a cold. He and Dimer were taking care of her. Jacob wouldn't let Sierra go with him. He was a good brother.

Mandie was assuming that Joe was already at her house… joy! So if he was at her house and Jacob arrived early… there was a huge possibility that there would be a lot of interesting stories to hear when she arrived home.

When they arrived at the Franklin train station, Mandie noticed that Mr. Bond had come to pick them up.

"Hello Mr. Bond," Mandie said, embracing the man, "How are you?"

"I'm doing well," he said, "How are you?"

"I'm… alright," she said. She waited a moment and then asked, "Are Jacob and Joe at my house?"

"Yes," Mr. Bond said, "They have been here since last week."

"Are they getting along?" Mandie asked.

"Now that you mention it," said Mr. Bond scratching his head, "They don't talk at all. They just stare at each other like they are waiting for the other to pounce."

Mandie took a deep breath, _Lord, I pray that they're will be no scenes at my house this week, _she prayed in her mind.

On the ride to John Shaw's house, Lizy whispered in Mandie's ear, "Prepare for an interesting week."

Mandie gave her a dirty look. But she already knew that it would be an interesting week.


	2. Chapter 2 Holding back laughter at home

Chapter 2

Mandie walked into her home. Something fury brushed against her ankles. She looked down and saw Snowball. "Awe..." Mandie squealed and smiled. She bent down to pick Snowball up, "Sorry Snowball, I haven't paid attention to you the last few times I've been home," he pressed his nose against hers, "Forgive me?" she asked. Snowball meowed. Mandie put him down and he ran off.

Mandie walked into the parlor and noticed that everyone had already arrived. She recognized all of them except two girls sitting in the corner. One was to the left of Jonathan and one was to the left of Dimer, so Mandie assumed that they were the Cherokee girls that Dimer and Jonathan met while the Cherokee church was being built. Not only were the two girls sitting next to Jonathan and Dimer and giggling, but Sallie and Celia were glaring at the girls. Mandie held back a laugh when she noticed this.

"Mandie!" Celia squealed. She got up and embraced Mandie. Sallie did also.

Mandie turned to face Hilary and Lizy, "Hilary and Lizy, this is Celia and Sallie, Celia and Sallie this is Hilary and Lizy." The girls nodded at each other.

Mandie suddenly remembered something. She looked around the room at all the faces and finally found Joe and Jacob. And just like Mr. Bond had said, they were looking at each other like they were waiting for the other to pounce. _I'll be lucky if they don't actually pounce in front each other, _Mandie thought.

Joe and Jacob hadn't noticed she was home so she walked over to them. "Hello," Mandie said. They both stood when they noticed she was there.

"You're finally home," Jacob said, his beautiful brown eyes shining at the sign of her presence, "Did that evil Dean Hampton keep you caught up for too long?"

Mandie blushed as they made eye contact. He hypnotized her with those gorgeous brown eyes, "He's not evil," she replied, "He's just making sure I get all the knowledge I need in seven short years."

Joe was looking down. He might have been possessive of Mandie but, he sure didn't want to make a scene in front of everyone.

Immediately after Mandie finished the word years, he cut in. "So Mandie," he began, "Have you been able to think with all of the knowledge getting pounded into your mind?"

Mandie knew what he was insinuating. She leaned over to him and whispered in his ear, "We'll talk about it later."

"Mandie," Jonathan said.

She realized he had been waiting with open arms read to embrace her while she was talking to Joe and Jacob.

She laughed, "Hi Jonathan," she said. She embraced him.

She didn't see it, but she heard Joe and Jacob catch their breaths. She sighed and then pulled away.

Dimer was also waiting, with open arms.

Mandie hugged him. This time, she just ignored Joe and Jacob staring at her, debating on cutting in.

"There's someone I want you to meet," Dimer said. Jonathan nodded in agreement.

"This is Ahyoka," Dimer said. The girl got up and smiled.

"And this is Ayita," Jonathan said. The second girl got up.

"Hello Amanda," Ayita said, "It is a pleasure to be in your home celebrating Christmas with you and your family."

She spoke in perfect English. _I like this girl, _Mandie thought.

"My sister has told it right," Ahyoka said, "I am truly honored to celebrate Christmas with you."

Later that night, Mandie, Celia and Sallie slept in Mandie's room.

Hilary, Lizy, Ahyoka, and Ayita shared the room next to them.

Mandie held back her laughs as Sallie and Celia complained about Ahyoka and Ayita.

"And then," Sallie began furiously, "She said 'My name means bringer of happiness' and I was thinking that the only way she could bring someone happiness is by not being present!"

She finished the sentence rather loudly and Mandie was afraid that the girls would hear her talking from next door.

Then, Celia began to complain, "Ayita told me all about her name also. She said that her name means first to dance. I don't get why they choose beautiful names with beautiful meanings for such evil girls."

And the complaining went on until they finally fell asleep. But Mandie lay awake.

All of a sudden, there was a light tap on the door.


	3. Chapter 3 The fight

Chapter three

The fight

The next morning was Sunday. Mandie was up bright and early to get ready for church.

Mandie noticed as she opened her closet that Aunt Lou must have thought it would be a good Christmas present to make her more dresses than she could ever wear! She opened the doors to the closet and found at least thirty dresses.

She wanted to wear a short dress, but it was wintertime so she had to wear a long one. "Oh well," she said, putting back a yellow summer dress, "I guess I'll have to wear a long one."

She looked thoroughly through her closet and found a dress that was beautiful! It was white silk with blue lace running down the skirt. _It's beautiful! _Mandie thought, _But, it's too fancy for church. Maybe a party._

She put the dress back in her closet and continued looking for a church dress.

She decided on a dress that wasn't too 'everyday' like but one that wasn't too fancy either. It was white with firled lines of blue running down the entire dress.

She slipped into it, brushed her hair, took two ringlets and put them on both sides of her head, took a look in the mirror and then went down stairs for breakfast.

When she got down there, Joe was sitting on a stool by the fireplace.

She didn't even make eye contact with him. They both had not forgotten what had happened the night before.

*The night before*

_Mandie was puzzled. She looked at the clock and saw that it was almost midnight._

_"Who is knocking on my door at this time of night?" she asked herself._

_She got out of bed and put her robe on._

_She walked over to her bedroom door and opened it. _

_It was Joe!_

_"Joe, what do you want?" she whispered._

_"I wanted to talk. You did say that we would talk later," he said._

_Mandie sighed, "Well, now it is almost midnight so can it wait until tomorrow?"_

_Joe shook his head, "Breaking promises again," he began to walk away._

_Mandie became furious, "Oh..." she stomped her foot quietly, "Fine, I'll be out in a moment." _

_He smiled, knowing he had won. _

_Mandie put her slippers on, joined Joe in the hallway, and closed her door._

_"What do you want to talk about?" Mandie asked, putting her hands on her hips._

_"I think you know what I want to talk about," he said._

_Mandie sighed._

_"We might as well take a walk then," she said._

_Joe offered his arm. Mandie laughed a little and took his arm._

_They walked around the mansion. There was silence for a while as they walked. But the silence didn't last long._

_"Mandie, I have been waiting impatiently since I saw you last. What is your decision?" _

_Mandie sighed._

_What do I tell him? She thought._

_She sighed, "Joe the truth is, I haven't made a decision yet."_

_He sighed, "Mandie," he said, irritated, "I need to know!"_

_Mandie didn't want to pick a fight. She sighed. _

_Joe became furious, "You've made decision, I can tell. Why won't you tell me?" _

_Mandie admitted to herself for the first time that she had made a decision._

_She looked into his eyes, "Joe, you're right, I have made a decision."_

_He looked at her in the eyes. Mandie couldn't look at him. She looked down with tears in her eyes._

_Joe had lost the battle._

_"I won't tolerate it," he said. He began kicking dirt._

_"Joe don't do this-" she began, Joe cut her off._

_"I won't tolerate it!" he shouted. Mandie looked into his eyes. They were filled with tears. She had known Joe her entire life, she had never seen him cry._

_"I love you," he said, "It doesn't matter if you don't want to be with me what matters is, no on else has you."_

_Mandie became furious. "You are only thinking about you!" she shouted, "You're only thinking about what you want! If you love me so much, why don't you ever think about me?"_

_"He can't have you," Joe said._

_"Well too bad for you!" Mandie shouted, "Because he will have me!"_

_She walked away after that._

Mandie cringed as she played back the fight in her head and Joe's eyes filled with tears.

She hoped she would never have to see a man cry again. Because if a man was crying, you knew it was bad.


	4. Chapter four Elizabeth's announcement

Chapter four.

*A quick note*

Forgive me for not updating I know it has been forever! :D

Also, if any of you readers are Harry Potter fans I am now writing a fanfiction (Romance. Would you believe it?) for Harry and Hermione called "Ron never came back". You could check it out if you'd like and, reviews are always a nice thing to find in my mailbox. ;)

Anyway, enjoy the story.

-ILoveMandieBooks :D

_Lord, please send someone, ANYONE, down to the parlor to break this silence, _Mandie prayed in her head. Her and Joe had been sitting there for ten minutes without saying a word or making eye contact. Mandie's palms were sweaty.

Then Jacob entered the parlor. _Did it really have to be him Lord? _Mandie prayed again.

"Good morning," he said. He sat down next to Mandie.

Joe took one look at Jacob and left the room.

Mandie pursed her lips.

"What's wrong with him?" Jacob asked Mandie.

Mandie tilted her head, her lips still pursed, but didn't say anything.

"I get it, I get it," Jacob said, lifting his hands in the air like he was surrendering, "It's confidential."

Mandie laughed.

Soon, they were all gathered around the long table that they always ate meals at. Mandie was sitting next to Sallie. She looked across the table to find that Jacob and Joe were sitting next to each other. Great, she thought. She sighed hopelessly.

"There is something I would like to tell you all," Elizabeth said. The room was quiet, everyone was paying attention.

"We will be hosting a Christmas Eve bash," Elizabeth said.

_Somewhere to wear that dress to, _Mandie thought.

Mandie loved the idea of having a party her on Christmas Eve, but Elizabeth wasn't finished. "Mrs. Cornwallis is helping me plan this ball so she and Polly will be along later for tea later."

Joe, Dimer, Sallie, Celia and Mandie groaned.

"Now listen to me," Elizabeth began sternly, "There will be no more of that, no more, understood? You are all young adults and it's about time you started acting like it. Now I want you all to try to like Polly. And if you can't accomplish that just pretend you like her."

Mandie almost choked on her eggs. She couldn't believe her mother said that she could pretend to like Polly. She had never heard her mother talk like that. She sighed. _Lord help me. _

*4:00 p.m. that evening, directly after tea*

"I can't believe he would do that!" Mandie said after she stormed into the room and slammed the door behind her with Sallie and Celia right behind her. She sat down on the angrily and played it all back in her head.

_*Tea time at 3:00 p.m. that same evening*_

_"Hello Polly," Mandie said putting on a fake smile, "How are you?"_

_"I'm wonderful thank you," Polly said. _

_She talked and acted like a proper lady. It was rather impressive, but this was Polly so it was also annoying. _

_"So, Mandie tell me, how is medical school?" Polly asked._

_"It's nice," Mandie said. She hoped she sounded friendly.__  
><em>_"That's nice," Polly said, then completely changed the subject, "So, I'm so excited to be bringing dates to this Christmas Eve bash! So Joe, I heard through the grapevine that you are currently single."_

_Joe looked at Mandie, smiled and said, "Yes I am," he looked at Polly, "Do you have a date to this bash yet?"_

_"No,"_

_"Would you like to go with me?"_

_"Well of course!"_

"UGGHHH!" Mandie moaned. She fell back on the bed, "She was barely here a minute and she got him to go with her!"


	5. Chapter five Liza's word

Chapter five- Liza's word

The planning for the Christmas Eve ball continued. Mrs. Cornwallis and Polly came over every afternoon for tea (to Mandie's distress), Mandie was forbidden to go in the kitchen because Aunt Lou and Liza were planning food, and Celia and Sallie were stressing every night and day to Mandie about their dates. With Sallie complaining about how handsome the boy had to be, and Celia talking nervously about her hopes of Robert getting her letter and coming to the ball, Mandie could not depend on going to bed at a decent hour.

One afternoon, Mandie tip-toed out of the parlor so she didn't have to listen to Celia stressing about her dress, and went to hide in her bedroom.

She stopped as she heard voices coming from the room across from hers which accompanied Joe, Jonathan and Dimer. Joe was talking.

"She tried to kiss me!" Joe was saying. Mandie heard Jonathan and Dimer laugh.

"It's not funny," said Joe angrily and Jonathan and Dimer stopped, "If she tries anything like that again she won't have a date to the Christmas Eve ball."

Mandie covered her mouth to keep from laughing, crept into her room, closed the door and started to laugh until her stomach hurt.

Another day after Mrs. Cornwallis and Polly had left from tea; Mandie was stomping off up to her room when Liza summoned her to the kitchen.

"If Aunt Lou finds out I'm in here were both in trouble," Mandie said, squeezing through the door that was only open a little.

"'Sinc when is Missy 'Manda 'afrai 'o gittin in trouble?" Liza said her hands on her hips.

Mandie sighed, "What do you want Liza?"

"I heard Miss Sweet 'Thang is goin' to the ball 'wit doctuh son," Liza said. She went behind Mandie and swatted her bottom, "Why ain't you fightin' for ya' man?"

Mandie rubbed her bottom, "Used to be my man Liza, used to. Jacob's my man now."

"What, Ingun boy?"

"Yes, Ingun boy," said Mandie, imitating Liza.

"Do ya have a thang for boys with brown eyes or somethin'?" Liza asked. She was going to swat Mandie again but Mandie dodged.

"No," Mandie said, then she thought for a moment, "I mean, thery're really pretty and all but no I do not." She straightened up. "If there is nothing else you want Liza I must be going."

As she left the room Liza swatted her again.


	6. Chapter six the day before Christmas Eve

Chapter six, the day before christmas eve.

Almost everyone was sitting in the parlor for afternoon tea. To Mandie's great plesure, the Christmas Eve bash was finished being planned and Polly did not come for tea (Joe seemed pretty happy about it to).

But with Polly not there for Mandie to obsess over, Mandie could sense the tension between Joe and Jacob. Jacob was fine but as for Joe, he watched Jacob like a hawk trying to proctect it's offspring. Mandie sighed.

Snow was falling and the ground was covered. Mandie thought the scene was perfect for the Christmas eve bash.

Suddenly, Uncle John was standing in the entrance of the parlor.

"Since we have the ball tomorrow we are going to get the tree tonight."

Mandie, Sallie and Celia lept to their feet. The scrambled to the hall tree (_Author's note: Help me out here, is that what the called the tree they hung their coats in the book?) _to get their coats. They boy and the Cherokee girls came, looking excited but less enthusiastic.

They walked through the trees they had to choose from. Mandie stood between Jacob and Joe, feeling uncomfortable.

"We're going to need a couple this year becuase Elizabeth wants trees everywhere for the bash," said Uncle John, little Carol and Carole trotting along behind him. Manide laughed at the way their short legs ran.

"I think this one is nice," said Celia from behind them (Celia wore no hat and Mandie thought her red hair looked beautiful in the midist of the snow).

"Alright," Uncle John said, "Joe why don't you cut that one down for me?"

Joe took the axe and looked at Jacob.

_Uh-oh, _Mandie thought, _Joe with an axe around Jacob._

Mandie took Jacob by the colar of his coat and dragged him down a different hall of trees. Joe's eyes followed them out of sight and than he began chopping down the tree.

Mandie and Jacob walked for awhile without saying anything except stuff about trees. Mandie couldn't help but noticing it wasn't the treees he was looking at.

They came into a clearing. There, they saw one of the most beautiful trees she ever saw.

She didn't know enough about trees the know what kind it was, but it had loads of branches stick outing and all of them were frozen solid, glittering in the winter wonderland.

They stood looking at the tree a few minutes without speaking. And then without out warning, Jacob put an arm around Mandie.

Mandie looked down and blushed and smiled in spite of herself.

She turn to look at him. He turned to look at her.

He put either of his hands on either side of her face and leaned in. Mandie's heart beat wildly.

Then, when they were centimiters apart from eachother's lips, someone spoke.

"What's going on?" Joe said, standing just inches from them.

Jacob and Mandie jumped apart and both turned red.

"Nothing," said Jacob.

"Nothing thanks to you," Mandie said furiously, she walked back to the hall of trees, hitting Joe as she passed. Jacob and Joe followed silently.

As they got back to the others, Mandie noticed Jacob looked slightly disapointed. She sighed,

"Do we got all the trees Uncle John?" asked Mandie.

"Yes," said Uncle John looking from Jacob to Mandie, "is everything alright?"

"Swell," said Mandie. She turned swiftly to the house and began to walk back with the others trailing behind.


	7. Chap6The Christmas Eve bash part 1

The Christmas Eve ball (Part one of three)

"And finally, Amanda Shaw, escorted by Jacob Walkingstick," said the announcer.

Mandie took a deep breath and began to walk slowly down the steps. She looked around the room. She was shocked to see that every young man in the room was looking in every direction but the stairs. She frowned. When she reached the bottom of the steps Jacob wasn't there to offer his arm. He was over by Sallie. Sallie was giggling and blushing.

Mandie fought not to cry and ran in the other direction...

"Mandie wake up," Celia said as she shook Mandie awake. Mandie opened her eyes quickly and looked around the room. _It was just a dream, _she told her self.

All of a sudden, Sallie threw Mandie a dress from her closet. "Get dressed sleepy head, we're late for breakfast."

The sun parlor would be there visiting and eating quarters of the day. The dining room and the parlor had all been decorated for the ball.

Mandie, Celia and Sallie rushed down the stairs and too the sun parlor. When the got there, they stopped in the entrance for a moment. Everyone was in the room, eating and talking excitedly in between bites. Mandie scanned the room and noticed that Uncle John and Joe were sitting in a corner talking in hushed voices. When Mandie entered the room they stopped talking immediately.

"Good morning," Mandie said with a frown on her face.

"Morning," everyone coursed.

To Mandie's distress, Polly and Mrs. Cornwallis arrived early that day for afternoon tea. But luckily, Polly was a nervous wreak and decided to hide out in Mandie's room for the day.

Finally, six thirty arrived and it was time for the men to go and change at Mrs. Cornwallis' and the women to go upstairs and get ready.

Mandie, Celia and Sallie laughed and talked the way up the stairs and then came to Mandie's room. When the entered, Polly was sitting in front of the mirror fully dressed. She had a bun in her hair and little sections were hanging freely, and she was wearing the blue gown that Mandie was going to wear to the ball.

She looked at them as they entered the room, "Isn't the gown beautiful?"

Mandie exited the room and burst into tears.

When Liza found out about Polly stealing Mandie's dress, she was furious. She led Sallie, Mandie and Celia into Aunt Lou's sewing room after they promised not to mention a thing to Aunt Lou.

When they got there Liza opened the door to a closet and revealed a gown. Mandie gasped at the beauty of the gown. The skirt was big and the entire gown was white and trimmed with gold.

"It was meant to be your wedding gown," Liza said.

Mandie burst into tears again.

"This dress will put Miss Sweet Thang to shame," said Liza with a smile.

At seven o' clock they could hear guests coming into the mansion. Finally, it was seven fifty-five and the made a line in the hall. Mandie, Sallie and Celia snuck out of Mandie's room after everyone else was in line so no one would see her until she walked down the steps. Mandie stood last in line looking absolutely beautiful. She had tied a few sections of hair into a gold bow and let the rest hang freely over her shoulders. She had golden slippers hidden under the long white and gold skirt.

Then, they heard music begin to play.

"Welcome to the Christmas Eve ball," said the announcer and the crowd applauded.

"Thank you for joining the Shaw's in celebration of Christmas," another applause from the crowd roared.

"Help me in welcoming Elizabeth and Mary's lady's," said the announcer, "Now presenting Elizabeth Shaw, escorted by John Shaw."

The crowd roared as Elizabeth walked slowly down the steps in her long skirt and short sleved pink dress. Elizabeth had worn her short hair freely with curls at the bottom.

Uncle John offered Elizabeth his arm as she arrived at the last step.

The crowd had parted while she was walking down the steps to make a path for the women and their escorts.

"And now, Mary Cornwallis, escorted by Arthur Cornwallis," the crowd roared as Mrs. Cornwallis walked down the steps in a purple and black, long skirt and short sleved dress to her husband.

She took the arm he offered and walked through the crowd.

Uncle John and Elizabeth were standing by a wall watching the other ladies be announced.

The next person to be announced was painful to see.

"Next we have Polly Cornwallis, escorted by Joseph Woodard."

Polly walked down the stairs beaming in Mandie's blue gown. Mandie was so angry when Joe's jaw dropped and he called Polly beautiful.

"Now put your hand together for Mary Talf, escorted by Senator Morton," said the announcer.

Mandie excitedly looked down the steps. And sure enough, there was Senator Morton waiting to offer a arm to Mandie's grandmother. Mandie's grandmother looked just as shocked as the ladies upstairs when she saw Senator Morton there. Senator Mortan semmed to approve of the way Mrs. Talf looked in her short sleved long skirted purple dress.

"And now Hilary Robertson and Elizabeth Hampton, escorted by eachother as best friends," said the announcer. The crowd seemed to approve because the applause was louder than ever before.

Hilary and Lizy's dresses were long, short sleved and covered in dimands. Hilary's dress was pink and Lizay's was dark blue.

"Now Ahyoka Dam, asscorted by Dimer Walkingstick." Ahyoka also wore a dark blue dress. It had short sleves, and a long skirt that was shreaded at the bottom.

Manide felt bad for Sallie because as Ahyoka took Dimer's arm she cringed.

"Ayita Dam, escorted by Johnathan Guyer." Ayita's dress matched Ahyoka's dress but it ws purple."

Celia was next. She wore a long short sleved dress with silver lace.

"Now, Sierra Walkingstick, unacompanied." Mandie would have beeen embaressed to go to a ball without an escort, but Seirra was extremly happy. She smiled and waved as she made her way down the path the guests had cleared.

"Now, Celia Hamilton, escorted by Robert Rogers." Celia froze on the spot. Mandie and Celia gave her a friendly push to get her going.

"Now we have Sallie Sweetwater, accompanied by her grandfather Ned Sweetwater."

Sallie smiled and walked down the steps in her dress that was like Celia's except red.

Mandie was all alone now.

"And finally, Amanda Shaw, escorted by Jacob Walkingstick." Mandie, with anxiety and excitment running through her vains, walking down the stairs. The applause was almost deafening and every young man's jaw had dropped.

And to Mandie's relief, the dream she had this morning didn't come true. Jacob was standing right there offering his arm.


	8. Chapter 7 The Christmas Eve ball part 2

The Christmas Eve ball. Part two of three.

The crowd roared with applause as Mary, Elizabeth and their ladies (and their escorts) made their way to the dining room. As Mandie and Jacob passed, Mandie waved and greeted guests.

Walking to the dining room took a short amount of time. When they arrived there Aunt Lou and Liza were waiting to open the doors.

When Aunt Lou and Liza opened the doors to emit guests they both looked at Mandie. Aunt Lou looked appalled, considering that the dress Mandie was wearing was not supposed to be shown to Mandie until her wedding day. Liza on the other hand wolf-whistled. Mandie rolled her eyes with a smile as she passed them to walk into the dining room.

The large dining table had been moved. There were twenty small circular tables (that seated four each) surrounding an enormous circular table in the center of the room (which seated twenty). All the tables had been set properly; a vase of roses stood in the middle of each table on top of a white table cloth littered in rose peddles.

In the far corner (the right far corner, the far corner of the wall facing the tables) a small brown table held a record player, playing the recent hits.

The huge table in the center of the room (obviously) was for Mary, Elizabeth and their ladies (and their escorts). They sat down at the tables and immediately maids came to take their orders. Mandie was pleased to see Jenny running up to her.

"Hello Jenny, how are you?" said Mandie, turning in her seat.

"I'm fine Miss Amanda. You?"

"Fine," said Mandie. She looked around the room. "Where's Liza?"

Jenny looked down sadly. "Aunt Lou smacked her face and sent her to her room when she found out she had given you your wedding gown."

"Really?" said Mandie guiltily.

Jenny nodded sadly. "Well, I enjoy talking to you but I've got a lot of work to do. What would you and-" she looked at Jacob and leaned closer to Mandie, "who's your date?" she added is a whisper.

"Jacob," Mandie whispered back. She turned to Jacob. "What would you like to eat?"

They ordered some Prime rib and two glasses of water. With a nod Jenny went to get their food. Seconds later Jacob got up and left. He said he would be back shortly.

Mandie met Celia's gaze with a look that asked her where she thought Jacob was off to.

Celia sat down her glass of hot chocolate that Aunt Lou had brought her guiltily, "Mandie, the truth is that Jacob met a girl while he was here and-"

"I can guess what happened next," said Mandie. She rolled her eyes.

"I don't mean to butt in-" said Jonathan suddenly.

"Then don't," said Celia sharply.

"But, did I just here that Jacob is falling for someone else?" asked Jonathan, ignoring Celia.

"Way to be sensitive Jonathan," said Sallie sarcastically. Mandie smiled.

"Mandie," Celia began guiltily, "none of us thought that you and Jacob would last. We placed bets-"

"And I won," said Jonathan, "and Celia lost… by a lot."

Celia gave him a dangerous look. Mandie laughed.


	9. Chapter 9

_Note/This is last chapter of the Christmas Eve bash and the last chapter of the book! I hope you guys will enjoy it. Just a couple more things. I adore constructive criticism (as you know) and (my new thing) questions. Ideas would also be nice. If you have anything in these categories to share, feel free! And also, I have two Harry Potter fanfics up now if you are interested! Enjoy! -ILoveMandieBooks. ;D_

After supper, the couples linked arms, formed a line and led the crowd to the parlor. Aunt Lou and Jenny were there, waiting to open the doors.

The doors opened and the couples entranced the parlor with the guests on their heels.

The parlor had a Christmas tree in the far corner to the right (presents jumbled up in a great pile around it) and all the furniture had been moved toward the walls or out of the room.

Aunt Lou walked over to the record player that sat on an in-table next to the Christmas tree as the couples took their places. The couple would begin the dance part of the ball with the waltz.

Aunt Lou had put on a record entitled "Waltz me around again Willie", it was a very popular tune this year.

The tune began and Jacob began to lead Mandie. She was making eye contact with him for awhile, but then turned her head and looked around the room. The rest of the couples were dancing beautifully. Mandie noticed that most of the people were forced to stay in the main hall because there wasn't enough room in the parlor.  
><em>Waltz me around again Willie, around, around, around, The music is dreamy it's peaches and creamy oh don't let my feet touch the ground, I feel like a ship on an ocean of joy, I just want to holler out loud ship ahoy, Waltz me around again Willie, around, around, around.<em>

Mandie looked around and noticed Polly looking angrily in the direction of her and Jacob. Mandie snorted. Polly was the girl that Jacob had fallen for! It looked as if she and Joe would both be miserable tonight.

The dance ended and that was the last Mandie saw of Jacob for the rest of the night.

Mandie soon found Celia and Sallie sitting together without their dates.

"Hi," Mandie said, sitting down next to them.

"Hi," Sallie said, "how are you?"

"I'm alright."

"So, are you and Joe going to start courting again since you and Jacob won't work out?" Celia asked.

"No. I have spent the last year or so in and out of a relationship. I want some time to myself and my friends before I settle down, fall in love and get married."

"Good for you," said Sallie encouragingly.

Later that night, after everyone else had gone to bed, Mandie sat in the parlor.

All of a sudden, music began to play. She turned around and saw Joe walking towards her.

"What are you doing?" she asked, puzzled.

"I want to dance with someone I would actually like to dance with once tonight," he said. He held out his hand. Her heart beat faster and she took his hand. He pulled her close and began to dance with her.

_I am writing to you Molly, _the words to the song said, _while the fair moon softly shines, as it did the night before you went away, when I told loves old, old story, as it shone in all it's glory, and you promised you'd return and wed one day, now folks laugh and call it folly when I tell them you're still true, but you love me don't you Molly? Say you're coming home please do, Ain't you coming back to New Hampshire Molly? Ain't you coming back to see us once again? The folks all say you won't come back, you won't come back, you won't come back, but something seems to whisper you love me as you did before you went away to roam, Ain't you coming back to New Hampshire Molly? Write and say you're coming home._

Note:

I researched for music in 1906 and came across a few good ones for Mandie and Joe's dance. The song that they ended up dancing to is called "Ain't you coming back to New Hampshire Molly?" It was written by Robert F. Roden and J. Fred Helf and sung by Harry Macdonough. It was also charted at #3 in November 1906. If you would like to listen to the song copy and paste the link below:

.com/watch?v=U6nmKMWDrUE

"Waltz me around again Willie" was also a popular song from 1905-07.


	10. Reply to Izana Kunagiri

Written on: Saturday 11/26/11

Hey guys! Sorry if you thought this was an update!

I am replying to a review. I couldn't properly reply to this review and I wanted to.

So, here it is...

Reviewer: Izana Kunagiri

Reviewed chapter: 4 of New Horizons: Mandie her college days book 4

Izana Kunagiri: Thank the Lord! Finally you actually start to get grammar and seperate the quotations! As a rule, you can't publish junk like that with improper grammar. It makes reading horrible and not fun at all. You should really go back and change everything.

Me: Hi Izana Kunagiri. ;D

My Mandie stories were the first fanfiction's I ever wrote so I was very inexperienced and didn't proofread.  
>I apologize for my grammer mistakes.<p>

Izana Kunagiri: Your stories aren't too Mandie-ish.

Me: After re-reading them I realize that. I hope to do better in future stories! ;D

Izana Kunagiri: I feel like I'm watching a repetitive soap opera. The thing going on between Joe and Mandie? Cliche and immature.

Me: Repetitive soap opera? lol... fair enough. Sorry... that's the material I enjoy writing... the future stories will probably be the same. ;D

Izana Kunagiri: Please revise and rewrite! Thanks for sharing, but you should fix a few things.

Me: I might look into revising... but no promises. ;P

But if by rewrite you mean go back and change some storyline I'm going to have to refuse. I've written what I've written and I can't change it. Or I can but I won't. Sorry.

-ILoveMandieBooks-

Once again, sorry if you thought this was an update!

Are you wondering when my next Mandie story will be out? Well the answer is I don't know when.

I know what will be happening in the first chapter but I have become very picky about my writing and I can't stand it if it's not perfect. Please forgive me.

Anyway... ideas are helpful. ;) ;) ;)

Thank you guys for reviewing! I hope my next story will be just as successful!

Thank you guys so much for everything, xoxo, ILoveMandieBooks. 3


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